Faq:IGC
Category:Frequently Asked Questions Where can I find flight traces (IGC files) for my flights? IGC files are automatically created in the '/My Documents/XCSoarData/' folder with the following name: '2008-12-11-XCS-4G2-01.IGC' - where the year, month and day is encoded in the file name. You can also configure XCSoar to use the standard 'Short Format' file name for the .IGC files. You configure this in the System Configuration on the Logger setup screen. The short file name has the format '8CBX4G21.IGC' where: * '8' is the year (2008) of the flight * 'C' is the 12th month (1-9, A, B, C for the 12 months) * 'B' is the 11th day of the month (1-9, A-V for the 31 days) * 'X' is the code for XCSoar * '4G2' is the unique hardware identifier of the PDA (like a serial number) * '1' indicates the first flight of the day These files (and other IGC files) are found by the 'Logger Replay' function of XCSoar, so you can watch your flight afterwards. Is XCSoar Approved by the OLC Summary: XCSoar allows pilots to compete in the On-Line Classic Contest (http://www.onlinecontest.org). This means that pilots can fly with a PDA running XCSoar and a generic GPS card and compete in the OLC Classic Contest. No additional logging equipment is required. This will enable pilots who fly club ships and pilots who don’t own or have access to an IGC-approved flight logger to complete in the OLC Classic Contest. The OLC recognizes and scores flights logged by IGC-certified flight loggers (e.g. Cambridge, LX, EW, etc.) as well as certain PDA flight computers (XCSoar, SeeYou Mobile, Pocket Strepla, GPS_LOG and Soaringpilot PALM) that adhere to the IGC specifications for creating flight log files. Flights uploaded to the OLC may compete in three OLC contests: OLC Classic, OLC League, and OLC FAI; PDA software can compete only in the OLC Classic Contest. Last year, over 200 pilots signed a petition (see http://www.petitiononline.com/XCSOLC1) requesting that the OLC validate and score XCSoar’s flights. XCSoar electronically signs it’s flight log '.igc' files with a code that the OLC will validate to score XCSoar flights for the OLC Classic Contest 2009 season. 1) For Pilots: To score your IGC files generated by XCSoar on the OLC, Pilots should install XCSoar onto their PDA. Then, after flying with XCSoar, upload the XCSoar flight log file (that ends in '.IGC') from the XCSoarData folder on your PDA to the OLC website. These files will be valid for the OLC Classic Competition only. While XCSoar runs in Simulator mode, no G-Record electronic signature will be appended to the IGC flight log file and the OLC will not validate the resultant simulated flight log file. 2) Validation Programs & Regional Contests: XCSoar has a separate Windows program (VALI-XCS.EXE) that may be run by regional contest scorer to validate the authenticity of an XCSoar flight log. This validation program confirms that the log file has not been damaged or edited by a user. The validation program may be downloaded from the Sourceforge.net website. If you are not sure that the regional contest your are entering accepts PDA flight log files, please confirm with your contest director before going to the contest. For the OLC, pilots do not need to use the VALI-XCS.EXE validation Windows program. 3) Manual Installation: We recommend that you install XCSoar onto your PDA using the automatic XCSoar Installation program that comes with XCSoar. If you run this Installation program to install or upgrade XCSoar onto your PDA, no further steps are necessary. However, some pilots may need to manually install XCSoar. For example, if your PDA loses its memory, and you run XCSoar from a backup copy you have on a memory card. If you do this, you will need to make sure that you backup the GRecordDll.dll file in addition to the XCSoar.exe file. Please note that the GRecordDll.dll file may not be visible from the Windows File Manager unless your File Manager shows hidden files. Usually, you can get around this by copying the folder that contains XCSoar.exe, which will include all the required files in that folder. XCSoar displays either 'G-Record' or 'No G-Record' when the pilot clicks on the XCSoar menu, Info > Info > Status, and observes the 'Logger' field on the screen. If it displays 'G-Record' then XCSoar will create logger files that will be validated by the OLC. 4) For Open Source Developers: The GRecordDLL.dll file is a new file included in the XCSoar installation. This file is used during flight to encrypt the 'G-Record' during the recording of the IGC file. When a pilot uploads the IGC file to the OLC website, the OLC automatically reads this encrypted G-Record and validates the IGC file. The source code for the GRecordDLL.dll file and the validation programs is not available to the open development community. This is to increase the level of confidence in the security of the IGC files. Because these files are not open source, which is contrary to the general spirit of Open Source software, the use of the GRecordDLL.dll file is optional, and the GRecordDLL.DLL file can be removed by the pilot from their PDA with the only impact being that XCSoar will not append a G-Record to its IGC files and the OLC will not validate them. 5) F-Record Satellite Constellation: ''' Per the IGC file specification, XCSoar includes the F-Record that shows the satellite constellations used in the IGC file’s GPS fixes. '''6) XCSoar adheres to the IGC specifications for flight loggers with the following exceptions (see http://www.fai.org/gliding/gnss/tech_spec_gnss.asp): * XCSoar is not an approved logger with the IGC and can not be used for any level of IGC Badge or Record flight claims; * XCSoar is not hardware tamper resistant; * XCSoar does not maintain unique encryption keys for each unique logger device ID; * XCSoar does not require a pressure altitude sensor to provide altitude data. Will it be possible to have validated IGC logs for IGC Records and Badges? The IGC does not currently approve any PDA-based devices for IGC Records or Badges, and this is not likely to change. The primary reason is that the security level of a PDA-based device is lower than a device that has hardware tamper resistance build into it.